APPROACHES TO ANALYZING MEDIA GENRES (DISCOURSE ANALYSIS) 30 September 2015 OUTLINE •What is discourse analysis (DA) •Conversation analysis •Ethnographic approaches to DA •Corpus-based DA •Multimodal DA •Critical DA • • WHAT IS DA? •“Discursive turn” in social sciences •Interdisciplinary field of inquiry •Definition of DA: “the analysis of linguistic •behavior , written and spoken, beyond the •limits of individual sentences, focusing •primarily on the meaning constructed and •interpreted as language is used in particular •social contexts.” • WHAT IS DA? •Main features: •Analysis of language beyond the sentence • •Analysis of “language in use” • •Interdisciplinarity WHAT IS DA? •Two levels of DA: •• A macro-sociological level: “serves to transmit the social structure, the values, the systems of knowledge, all the deepest and most pervasive patterns of the culture”. • •• A micro-sociological level: “meanings are seen as specific to particular contexts and situations”. • DEVELOPMENTS IN DA •Recent developments in DA: • •• The role of semiotic modes other than written or spoken text • •• Varieties of new media of communication • • • •CONVERSATION ANALYSIS Conversation Analysis •• Sacks, Schegloff, Jefferson •• Based on ethnomethodology •• Definition: “the description and explication of the competences that ordinary speakers use and rely on in participating in intelligible, socially organized interaction”. •• Discourse is regarded as a kind of social action – we are always “doing things with our words”. Conversation Analysis •What is analyzed: •• Informal conversations between equals •• Institutional types of discourse •• The mechanics of turn-taking •• The concept of adjacency pair • •Methods: •• Detailed transcriptions of natural talk CONVERSATIONAL ANALYSIS • • • •http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YItCE8t4WLA • • • •ETHNOGRAPHIC APPROACHES TO DISCOURSE ANALYSIS ETHNOGRAPHY •Emphasis on social context regarded as the central aspect of communication •Gumperz and Hymes: “ethnography of communication” •Less reliance on actual analysis of linguistic data and more on text-external social and contextual factors ETHNOGRAPHY •Methods: •Observation of practices with the help of new technologies – then their interpretation •Collection of documents •Interviews, questionnaires, field notes, … • • Exploring a particular social group’s discourse practices… • • •Watch video: language, media and 24/7 videorecording • •http://www.ted.com/talks/view/lang/eng//id/1092 • • • • • •CORPUS-BASED •DISCOURSE ANALYSIS CORPUS-BASED DA •Baker, Biber,… •Works with large amounts of text •General corpora representing language use in a variety of contexts, both written and spoken (e.g., Bank of English, British National Corpus) •Specialized corpora – the study of language variations in specific academic and professional genres CORPUS-BASED DA CORPUS-BASED DA • • •MULTIMODAL •DISCOURSE ANALYSIS MULTIMODAL DA •Text is just one of the many modes of communication •Textual data is not necessarily the most important mode used for the construction and interpretation of meaning •Analysis of semiotic modes other than text: gestures, posture, proxemics, visual images, document layout, music and architectural design... MULTIMODAL DA •The sign = signifier + signified (Saussure) •Signifier – phonological sound or graphic appearance of a sign (e.g., word, image,…) • •Signified – the meaning and interpretation of the sign MULTIMODAL DA •Denotation – refers to the literal meaning of a sign. It is the dictionary definition of a word – e.g., snake – “any of numerous scaly, legless, sometimes venomous reptiles”. •Connotation – refers to the associations that are connected to a certain sign such as emotional suggestions related to a word. The connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative meanings. E.g., the connotations for snake might include danger or evil. Denotation: a brown cross Connotation: a symbol of religion, a symbol of Christianity •What could the denotation and connotation of this sign be analyzed? •(writers often deliberately select words that they think will influence your reactions and appeal to your emotions) https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ69UxmzCsBtDIt_IGpSYWcWA2c94quoQPb-jEPOdrWIsw 8oDZzMQ • • •Denotation: where a person lives •Connotation: •HOME – cozy, loving, comfortable •HOUSE – the actual building or structure •RESIDENCE – large, cold, no feeling •DWELLING – primitive or basic surroundings • https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ69UxmzCsBtDIt_IGpSYWcWA2c94quoQPb-jEPOdrWIsw 8oDZzMQ • 484ec51c020002rh SIGNIFIER: Blonde Hair Signifies: Ideal Woman, Innocence, Looks ‘gold’ SIGNIFIER: Perfume Bottle Signifies: Looks Jewel-like, Buried Treasure SIGNIFIER: Colour Gold Signifies: Luxury, Riches, Expense, Success, Shimmering SIGNIFIER: Jewellery Signifies: Extravagance, Excess, Glamour, Decadance SIGNIFIER: Word ‘Love’ Signifies: Passion, Excitement, Lust SIGNIFIER: Font Signifies: Dior Logo, Brand Name, Designer • davidoff_Cool%20Water SIGNIFIER: Water/Ocean Wave SIGNIFIES: Wild, Stormy, Natural, Earthly SIGNIFIER: Words ‘Cool Water’ SIGNIFIES: Refreshing, different, SIGNIFIER: Droplets on Bottle SIGNIFIES: Cool, chilled appearance, almost drinkable SIGNIFIER: Mans Naked Torso SIGNIFIES: Natural, angelic, pure, toned, ideal, masculine, adonis SIGNIFIER: Facial Expression/Body Language SIGNIFIES: Ecstatic, pleasure lost in ecstacy, laid back, inviting SIGNIFIER: Calligraphy Style Font SIGNIFIES: Classic, timeless, expensive tastes • • •CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS CRITICAL DA •Focus on socio-political domination: notions of ideology, power, hierarchy, and gender are seen as relevant for an interpretation or explanation of text •Small qualitative case studies as well as large data corpora •Fairclough, Wodak, Van Dijk • CRITICAL DA •Language is not powerful on its own – it gains power by the use powerful people make of it, specifically in new public spaces or new genres provided by globalized media • •Media Analysis of US Coverage of Arab-Israeli Conflict: •http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIOzo82emA0 •